The Stranger
by hylianmusicianandwriter
Summary: Oneshot; Rick visits baby Morty in the dead of night.


Rick Sanchez stood outside his daughter's house, hands stuffed into his lab coat pockets, taking in the peace of the late summer night. He glanced at his watch; 1:32 AM. There was no one else around; the street was illuminated by a single streetlamp, as quiet as could be. Rick passively observed a stray cat wandering the fences, jumping into different backyards, unaware of the boundary lines. He sighed as a cool breeze blew through the night, making his lab coat flutter around his knees. Though Rick had been to many different planets with locations that were more beautiful and peaceful than any other human could ever imagine, there still seemed to be something about Earth that made it so he couldn't stay away from his home planet for too long. For once, his mind was quiet.

Of course, Rick's mind could never stay noiseless for long; after the breeze finished blowing and returned the street to its quietness, thoughts began racing through his head as fast as they possibly could.

No, he wasn't here to dawdle; he was here for one reason, and one reason only-to see his grandson.

This was Rick's fourth visit to see his grandchild; Morty was only five months old and was just beginning to develop some resemblance of motor skills. Rick knew that he couldn't keep secretly visiting Morty for long, because soon his memory would begin to develop and he would begin to _remember_ his grandfather. That's what he had had to do with his granddaughter, Summer. Rick did the simple math in his head; she should be about three now.

Rick distinctly remembered the first time he saw Summer. She had only been a month old, and had been so tiny in his arms. Of course, her parents hadn't known he was there; like what he was doing with Morty, he had also secretly visited Summer when she was very young. Rick had heard from other Ricks that, across the multiverse, Beth had had a daughter with the guy who got her pregnant in high school—Jerry. There were countless things, terrible things, that Rick wanted to do and could do to his daughter's husband; however, he forced himself to stay out of it. He had already been gone from Beth's life for too long; showing up just to disparage her husband would cause more drama than it was worth. However, curiosity had gotten the better of Rick, as it often did, and he desired to at least catch a glimpse of his granddaughter. He was surprisingly struck by the red of her hair; the color was identical to her grandmother's. He had secretly visited and held Summer in the dead of night every month or so until she was about eight months– by then, she was beginning to remember him.

Rick had decided to call it off, and stopped visiting. He couldn't risk Beth knowing.

However, it wasn't long until Beth had become pregnant again. He had been in the Citadel when he heard the news of a second child. This one, a boy, had inverse brainwaves to a Rick—the perfect cloaking mechanism from the Federation.

Once again, curiosity got the better of him, and Rick had secretly visited his grandson, Morty, for the first time.

Rick shook off the thoughts, returning to the present. He ran his fingers through his hair, pulling his portal gun out from his inside pocket. He fired it, stepping through the green portal to emerge on the other side, into Morty's room.

The portal closed behind him as Rick tucked away the portal gun, looking around the small room. The white crib was against the wall, gentle moonlight streaming in through the closed window. A mobile hung from the ceiling, dangling cut-out planets, stars, and rockets above the crib.

Rick rolled his eyes at the cheesiness of it, but in truth he liked its appeal. Maybe it would help get Morty interested in science.

Rick leaned over the side of the crib. Inside there was the small body of his grandson, the yellow and blue blankets strewn around him in an obvious attempt to cool down from the heat of the summer night. Rick watched Morty's chest rise and fall, rise and fall, in the gentle biological rhythm of sleep.

Rick scooped the child up in his arms, gently cooing at him, not wanting to wake him. Dammit, this kid was cute.

"Y-you're gonna be my little Morty, Morty," Rick whispered. "And we're gonna go on all kinds of adventures! You're gonna be my little buddy, and I'm gonna show you the who-o-o-le multiverse. You wouldn't believe the amount of shit that's out there, lil' guy. It'll blow your mind! And-" Rick stopped; Morty had begun to gently fuss, arms and legs beginning to stretch out. Opening his large eyes to reveal deep brown irises, he looked up at his grandfather, furrowing his brow as he tried to understand who this stranger was.

Rick grinned. "Damn, Morty, y-y-you're an ugly baby. I guess all babies are, though. Your sister definitely was, as was your mom." An image of his granddaughter and daughter as babies flashed through his mind. He shook off the memory, his own brown eyes staring back at his grandson, searching for that spark of intelligence that he hoped Beth had passed on. Rick was genuinely concerned that that no good, lazy sonofabitch Jerry's genes had dominated in the brain department of his grandchildren.

He really hoped they hadn't.

Morty's eyes searched Rick's face as one of his hands reached out, latching onto the lapel of his grandfather's lab coat. Morty's fingernails were no larger than a half grain of rice; he gently felt the material in his fist, moving it between his fingers, amazed at its feeling. Rick smiled, admiring his grandson's squishy face.

Rick's heart gave a twinge. He rationally knew that his love for his grandchildren was merely an evolutionary trait in order to promote the survival of the human species, and he was merely succumbing to his evolutionary history. _And yet…_

There was a soft sound of gentle padding of sock-covered feet down the hall. His heart began beating quickly. Rick swiftly and gently put Morty's wiggling body back in his crib before fumbling for his portal gun in his coat pocket. He pulled the interdimensional device out and aimed it at the wall, pulling the trigger, a bright green light emitting from the emanating portal that appeared. He glanced over his shoulder; standing in the bottom half of the doorframe was his three-year-old granddaughter, dressed in a pink nightgown, the green portal light illuminating her small features. Summer stared up at Rick, anything but fear in her brown eyes.

Rick put his fingers to his lips and winked before hopping through the portal, the green swirling source disappearing behind him, leaving Summer in a dark room illuminated only by the gentle moonlight.

Summer blinked, the smallest amount of comprehension bringing sensory information together like puzzle pieces in her young mind. She heard her parents' door open and watched them as they both sleepily padded down the hall to her.

Her mom scooped her up in her arms, yawning. "Summer, are you okay? What's going on, honey? Daddy and I thought we heard some funny sounds out here. Is everything alright?" Her dad put a light hand on her back, obviously exhausted.

Summer looked at her brother's crib. "The weird man was here again," she said, matter-of-factly.

"The…the weird man, eh?" her mom said, yawning again.

Summer nodded. "He has magic powers! He has…" she thought hard, trying to remember what was in the strange man's hand when he disappeared through the wall. "He has a magic wand that makes him go away!"

"Mm-mm, that's nice honey. Okay, well, we should all try and go back to sleep. Do you want to sleep with me and Daddy tonight? That sounds nice," her mom sleepily rambled, absentmindedly playing with her daughter's red curls. Summer nodded, putting her head on her mom's shoulder and her thumb in her mouth, the enticing thoughts of the strange man slipping out of the forefront of her mind.

Suddenly, Morty began fussing from his crib, his gentle whines beginning to turn into cries. Beth sighed, turning to Jerry. "Will you…? Just bring him to bed with us."

Her husband half nodded before going over to his son's crib, hushing and cooing to Morty as he picked him up and held him close to his chest, arms gently wrapped around him. "C'mon now Morty…"

Beth and Jerry, holding their children, made their way to their bedroom. They climbed into bed, Summer and Morty snuggled between their parents. Morty, Summer, and Jerry quickly fell back asleep. However, Beth lay awake, listening to the soothing sound of her husband and children snoring peacefully. Though she was exhausted, her mind couldn't stop thinking about the supposed strange man that Summer had mentioned. Beth was certain that it was just another one of Summer's imaginary friends. She had watched her daughter playing with her imagination many times before; why should this time be any different? It wasn't the first time that Summer had mentioned the magic man, either; once a month or so, Summer would wake up in the middle of the night talking about a weird man who would disappear with green magic. Beth didn't dare risk thinking about it possibly being her father; she refused to allow herself that luxury of hope. No; Rick and his green portal gun had disappeared from her life years ago. Why would he come back now? It certainly wasn't him.

 _And yet…_

Beth sighed and stuck a foot out from underneath the covers; it was beginning to get hot with four bodies in one bed. She decided to tuck the thoughts of the imaginary man away. She closed her eyes and rolled over, allowing her children's gentle breathing to lull her into sleep.

 **A/N: Long time since I last posted here! I hope y'all enjoyed this. I'm a bit rusty, but I had to get this out. I love fluff and I love babies so...**

 **Let me know what you thought in a review! SIDENOTE: Season 3 amazing! I love it so much!**


End file.
